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December 07, 2007

December Tax Payments

Gentle Readers,

I just now paid my county property taxes online. It's a convenient process that makes it easy to part with tons of long green right at the peak of the Christmas shopping frenzy. The second installment is due April 10, 2008, a date no doubt chosen for its proximity to April 15. It's a process that I like a little less than a root canal, which, interestingly enough, is also cheaper. The root canal, not the property taxes. Yet, I digress.

Those of you without an impound account who can also afford to pay both halves of the county property tax, can accelerate a deduction into 2007 by paying both halves of the property tax before 12-31-2007. However, doing this only benefits you once and if you don't pay both halves next December, you'll end up losing the tax break for 2008 by dragging it forward into 2007. Still, there may be some merit in doing so.

Those of us who reside in the Golden State are faced with a minimum payment of half the annual taxes and that payment is due December 10, 2007. Don't miss that deadline.

Taxpayers paying estimates can use a similar strategy by paying the January 15, 2008 STATE estimated tax payment by December 31, 2007. IRS payment doesn't matter, it isn't deductible.

If you plan to pay the January house payment early to bulk up your mortgage interest deduction you better do it now. Lenders are slow to process at year end and many times I've seen January payments paid early yet still not show up on the annual mortgage interest statement. Sure, the bank got the payment on the 28th but it wasn't processed until the new year. But try proving it.